Global South Impact Community highlights role of catalytic finance in re-building inclusive global economy

New Delhi: Today, the Global South Impact Community (GSIC), a group convened by The Rockefeller Foundation and International Venture Philanthropy Center (IVPC) presented their official Statement to G20 leaders at the Think20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia. Representatives from the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, a G20 Impact Partner and the largest of the IVPC family of networks, were on site to present the statement on behalf of the GSIC community alongside Think20 Lead Co-Chair, Professor Bambang Brodjonegoro and The Rockefeller Foundation’s Deepali Khanna. Brodjonegoro and Khanna gave a nod to the Statement and their plenary remarks at the Summit yesterday. The GSIC includes global leaders from the public, private and philanthropic sectors curating new ways of thinking about development in the Global South in a post-pandemic world.

The Statement includes four key recommendations for G20 leaders, to leverage catalytic capital to build a new growth model inclusive of the Global South, post COVID-19. These include: 

The Mobilization of Catalytic Finance to the Global South: Countering the asymmetrical flow of net financial resources (from developing to developed economies), by leveraging at least 1% of total global wealth for impactful and inclusive deployment to the Global South.

Support for Capacity Development to Enable the Absorption of Catalytic Capital: Investing in needs-driven, institutional capacity development as a critical means for lowering the costs of achieving SDGs.

Mainstreaming of Decarbonization: Creating a global framework for ‘development towards prosperity with decarbonization’ that can be accelerated through south-south collaboration platforms.

Strengthened Response to Global Health Crises: Investing in infrastructure and capabilities to strengthen local health systems.

Commenting on GSIC and its Statement, Mr. Bambang Brodjonegoro, GSIC member and T20 Lead Co-Chair, said, “There is an urgent shift that is needed to build for a green, resilient, and inclusive global economic system post the pandemic. The recommendations put forth by the GSIC map the critical first steps to address the global imbalance of power when it comes to the Global North and Global South. My time in Bellagio reinforced much of what T20 Indonesia has been focused on and we leveraged many of the recommendations from the GSIC in our official communiqué to the G20. I feel the recommendations are a good step towards addressing the acute structural changes needed to remedy the root drivers of financial inequities. It is only through global collaboration that we can bring about equitable economic inclusion for all.”

As a key partner in the formation of the GSIC, Deepali Khanna, Vice President, Asia Regional Office, stated, “The vision behind The Rockefeller Foundation and the IVPC convening to bring about the GSIC, was to build dialogue and action around greater inclusivity in the global economy. Be it through the building of the GSIC Statement, or the call to add more member countries to the G20 from the Global South – the objective has always been to increase representation and allow for newer perspectives. We urge G20 leaders to take immediate action towards the GSIC’s Statement and enable the deployment of large-scale catalytic capital to tackle the SDGs. We, at The Rockefeller Foundation, in alignment to the GSIC, strongly believe that innovative financing will help developing countries unlock transformative change to make opportunity universal and sustainable for communities to flourish.”

Naina Subberwal Batra, IVPC Vice Chair and CEO of the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), highlighted the importance of global south voices being central to building a new economic future, stating that, "With the Indonesian and Indian Presidency's of the G20 happening in succession, it presents an opportunity to unleash the potential of Impact Leaders in Asia to come to the fore, followed by the G20 in Brazil and South Africa, we have a real opportunity to reshape global social and economic architecture so that it serves communities in all parts of the world.”

The Global South Impact Community plans to take an active role in support of these recommendations by participating in working groups to address the recommendations, taking a leading role in specific initiatives, and mobilizing additional Global South representatives for future initiatives.